Saturday, 31 January 2015

A top-level ski destinatiThe Chalet Tovet in Courchevel 1850on for nearly a century, Courchevel fits perfectly into its natural environment. Nestled in the rugged terrain of the Tarentaise valley in the French Alps, the town boasts among its five ski stations the famous Courchevel 1850. Here is situated Chalet Tovet, a spacious wood-built residence within easy reach of the pistes, whose

Friday, 30 January 2015

It's the weekend - woooop! But before we all shoot off, let's head to Norway for today's home tour. This space belongs to Nina Holst of Stylizimo blog. Nina moved home last year and since her previous home was so fab and included this famous walk-in-wardrobe, I've been eagerly awaiting to see what she was going to do with the new pad. And it certainly doesn't disappoint! Nina has stuck to her signature black, white and nude colour scheme and played with the beautiful light. All the shots of this serene, minimalist home have been taken by Nina, and she's also a talented artist (this is her latest painting), stylist (love this office) and store owner. Are there no end to this busy girls talents?

If you like this colous scheme you'll also love this kitchen, office space and home tour in the same monochrome and nude. Definitely my colours of the moment!

Any plans for the weekend? I think I'm going to sleep (I feel soooo tired!) but I'm also planning for a VIP visit from my ma and pa from London next week - sooo excited!

Before I shoot off - I'd like to to introduce you to a returning sponsor - oh so lovely handmade jewellery shop Studio Cosette. Safe to say, I pretty much love every piece Fai makes. But if I had to choose just two pieces I'd go for these earrings and the halo necklace (this is not a hint...honest!).

Thursday, 29 January 2015

As January comes to a close and the short, snowy days continue, I find myself dreaming of the summer sun more and more. And when it arrives - I'm going to be outdoors along with the rest of Scandinavia. That's why I thought I'd share the latest developments of one of my favourite summer cottages - an oh so idyllic family retreat on an island in the Finnish archipelego. The ongoing renovation project is driven by owner Minna Jones of Time of The Aquarius and her partner and has been well documented here on My Scandinavian Home (here and here plus her year round home here). To me, the residence epitomises the essence of the Scandinavian summer - life at a cabin with a beautiful, yet basic interior and maximised to ensure time outside enjoying the long awaited summer days. Last season the owners added an outdoor kitchen to the mix. And the good news? It's easily replicated. Here are a few new snaps of Minna's home and her fab new outdoor kitchen.

To get a similar outdoor kitchen: try painting an IKEA trestle table, the water can with tap and lights are from Granit, buy a camping stove here. Finnish birch basket. Rattan furniture is set to be big this spring / summer - I'm a big fan of the uber comfy BYHOLMA chair.

And because it's still January (just): I loved how Scandinavisk summarises the 'Sense of Scandinavia' in Thursday's piece. And this beautiful video by Volvo featuring Amanda Begman's song 'Vintersaga' (winter tale) perfectly sums up the coldest season in Sweden- I was particularly excited to see it even features the beach by my house here in the South! Thank you AMM blog for the tip!

Have a lovely day!

PS Thank you so much to Ana of Blog Milk Shop for all your amazing technical help with my blog lately! Ana is not only my tech saviour but she also creates the most stunning blog templates available to buy here.

Wednesday, 28 January 2015

I started to work from home this year. It certainly has its merits - pretty much everything in the house is whirring around me - the washing machine, dishwasher...and I'm sitting here, no make-up, big socks etc. But the true freedom comes with managing my own time (I'm planning on diving into town in a moment to run a few errands) and control of how my workspace looks. And it's the latter which inspired today's post. I love the light-filled home office in the Stockholm pad of Åsa Stenerhag, head designer of woman's clothing at Swedish brand Filippa K. The space, which has been beautifully captured by Jonas Ingerstedt, is home to her art, images which inspire her, artifacts collected on travels and vintage finds. The rest of Åsa's home with it's warm, earthy tones and ethnic textiles is pretty lovely too, don't you think? Oh yes, I could work and live here.

One of the greatest things about Sweden's capital city is how it's surrounded by water. A short boat ride can take you to one of thousands of islands with lovely homes such as this one. Have you been? We're heading up in a few weeks time to visit my brother-in-law - tips welcome!

Tuesday, 27 January 2015

The 'Sense of Scandinavia' is built 'of vast landscapes and raw seasons, of cosy shared moments and the world's happiest people' so says Scandinavisk. And if the Danish candle company owner Shaun Russel and his wife Lene's house is anything to go by, this is most definitely true. Located in Copenhagen, this calm space is the perfect shelter from the winter storms and light a candle or two. Not only does the brown and white schemed space have amazing bones with high ceilings and original parquet flooring, but the couple have carefully selected treasured design items and combined them with antique and vintage finds from which to enjoy it. And of course, there's that incredible grand piano...

Other beautiful and inspiring Copenhagen spaces include this apartment in unexpected colours, an artist's home in black and white and a pad with the shiniest concrete floor you've ever seen! Oh how I love the Danish sense of style, how about you?

This week I'm excited to be working with a wonderful team at the IKEA headquarters. It's about an hour and a quarter away from Malmö by train and stepping off the train is like entering a snowy winter wonderland. BRRRR - my new work wear: a fjäll räven backpack and fleece tights!

Monday, 26 January 2015

At the start of the week you're a allowed to go a little all out don't you think?! That's why I wanted to share this home in The Jardine district of Sao Paulo with you. The space belongs to a young lawyer who returned to Brazil after a spate in Italy. He commissioned famous architect Filipe Hess to renovate his newly acquired apartment to it's orginal 1950's former glory and at the same time reflect the relaxed European lifestyle he so enjoyed in Italy. The result is a beautiful mix of mid-century and industrial. And not a corner without a geometric pattern of some sort. Kind of cool don't you think?

Friday, 23 January 2015

It seems like so long ago that I was transforming this dowdy old brown sideboard into this explosion of colour and pattern! I know I was well wrapped up for winter and this week here in Western Australia has been really HOT. Yuk.

It was the easiest pattern to make. After choosing my colour palette, I literally made spoldges of the Chalk Paint on the piece, then used masses of small square pieces of tape in random places to create this pretty effect once they were peeled off.

The Cove is arguably one of the most incredible properties in Virginia, United States. It includes no less than 2,000 acres (809 Hectares) and flaunts an outstanding, spacious and elegant residence that has the potential to impress at a glance.The house offers exquisite accommodation options in its 8 lavish bedrooms, 7 full bathrooms and 4 half ones. It impresses with a refined, elegant interior

Those of you who attended the Bad Salzuflen Custom Bike Show in Germany recently got the chance to admire this exquisite motorcycle concept up close. The Akrapovic Full Moon Motorbike was created in partnership with Dreamachine Motorcycles, and it is a powerful and great-looking two-wheeler. Following in the footsteps of the Morsus concept as far as power goes, the Full Moon is equipped with the

It's the weekend - woooop! Any great plans? To me weekends are for kicking back and getting away from it all (OK, and the odd glass of wine). And I'm sure I could do both of these in this beautiful Norwegian space, given the chance! Looking out over a Norwegian fjord, Hilde and Kristian Eriksen designed the home from scratch and decorated the interior in white, shades of grey and warm light wood. The furniture is a mix of modern design and antiques. And the result is a serene, warm, light-filled home. Oh how I would love to spend my weekend here, how about you?!